It's tough to see those ol' lane lines

Q. The lanes are not clearly defined as I drive south on Harbor Boulevard while going through the intersection of Ball Road in Anaheim. Can the city install reflectors or paint dotted lines so that the driver will know which lane to follow? I have seen three near-accidents because drivers did not know which lane to follow. I also saw an accident where a small bus plowed right into the front-passenger side of a minivan because he thought it was his lane.

– Nancy Payne, Anaheim

A. The traffic lanes you mentioned were recently repainted and city crews are in the process of installing reflectors, according to Anaheim city spokeswoman Ruth Ruiz. The project should be completed in the next couple of weeks.

Q. It is very difficult to see the traffic lanes when I drive south on North Lakewood Avenue between Orangethorpe and La Palma avenues every day at 6 a.m., especially when it is raining. The reflectors and paint are extremely worn and have been this way for some time. Any word if work will be done to improve the situation soon? I am dreading our upcoming rainy season.

– Susan Allison, Yorba Linda

A. This problem is, technically, a tale of two cities, Susan.

That stretch of North Lakewood Avenue lies within both the cities of Anaheim and Placentia. Maintenance crews from Placentia were dispatched last week to replace the reflectors and repaint traffic lane stripes between Orangethorpe and Mira Loma avenues just one day after On the Road brought your concerns to the attention of Steve Drinovsky, Placentia's director of public works.

"Thank you for telling us about it," Drinovsky said.

The traffic lanes along North Lakewood, between Mira Loma and La Palma avenues, will be repainted by crews from the city of Anaheim by the end of this month, Ruiz said.

By the numbers: The California Highway Patrol was created in 1929 – back when officers were charged with keeping an eye on a mere 2 million cars registered in the state, according to the March/April edition of Westways magazine, published by the Automobile Club of Southern California.

By the end of 2011, there were 22 million cars, 5 million non-commercial trucks and nearly 820,000 motorcycles registered in California, AAA reported.

On the Road takes queries on transportation questions from readers of our North Orange County weekly newspapers. You can email questions to ontheroad@ocregister.com. Because of the volume of mail, only the questions placed into the column can be answered.